Rats build and update topological representations through exploration

Abstract

Although rats are able to build complex spatial representations of their surroundings during exploration, the nature of the encoded information is still a matter for debate. In particular, it is not well established if rats can process the topological structure of the environment in such a way that they are aware of the connections existing between remote places. Here, rats were first exposed for four 5-min trials to a complex environment divided into several sectors that were separated by doors allowing either unrestricted or restricted access to other sectors. In the fifth test trial, we measured the behavior of the animals while they explored the same environment in which, however, they faced changes that either altered or did not alter the topological structure of the environment. In experiment 1, closing previously opened doors prevented the rat from having direct access between corresponding sectors. In experiment 2, opening previously closed doors allowed direct access between sectors that had not been directly accessible. In each experiment, control doors allowed us to discard the mere influence of door manipulation. We compared the rats' exploratory behavior in response to door manipulations that either strongly altered or did not alter the ability to commute between sectors and found evidence that the animals displayed differential reactions to the two types of door manipulations. This implies that during exploration rats build a precise map of the connectivity of space that can be flexibly updated and used for efficient navigation.

Reconceiving the hippocampal map as a topological template

“…There is our recent modeling work showing the feasibility of spatial learning based on topological information (Dabaghian et al, 2012; Arai et al, 2014); early studies by Piaget and Inhelder showing that children first conceive of spatial relations in topological terms and only later think in terms of geometrical positions (Dawson and Doddington, 1973); and previous studies on rodent navigation showing that place cells respond to topological changes in the environment such as the placement or removal of a barrier across a previously learned route (Poucet and Herrmann, 2001; Alvernhe et al, 2011, 2012). We propose that a topological framework, more like a subway map, would provide the hippocampus a more powerful, flexible, and readily formed spatial substrate for creating experiential memories or evaluating the spatial context of behaviors (Lavenex and Amaral, 2000; Banquet et al, 2005).…”

“…For example, (Alvernhe et al, 2012) placed rats in complex environments in which multiple doors and entries allow movement in and out of different sectors of the space, and they changed the topological structure (connectivity) of the environment by closing and opening different passages. Some doors did not alter the topology of the environment (did not alter the ability to move in between sectors) while others did, and the rats’ place cells clearly responded to changes in the connectivity between sectors of the space and not merely the manipulation of the doors.…”

Whisker Movements Reveal Spatial Attention: A Unified Computational Model of Active Sensing Control in the Rat

“…Components that implement each of these computations are required to create even a relatively simple model of spatial attention as demonstrated by the model system we describe above. Whilst it is reasonable to seek simpler mechanistic explanations of a phenomenon such as the sensory modulation of whisker movement, there is evidence in a wide-range of domains—time [67]–[69], number [67], [70], reward [71], [72], decision-making [73], [74], space [75]–[78], and working and long-term memory [79], [80]—that rodents process information in a manner that reflects the operation of cognitive mechanisms sometimes approaching, in terms of their sophistication, those identified in primates. We propose that in the case of spatial attention, rat cognition again shares interesting similarities to primate cognition that have been largely overlooked (though, see [81], [82]).…”

Solving uncertainty during robot navigation by integrating grid cell and place cell firing based on rat spatial cognition studies

“…path integration [16,17], direct correlation of distal cues to rat position [8], or their combination [9]. Examples of these models include Burgess, Recce, and O'Keefe [18], Brown and Sharp [19], Redish and Touretzky [20], Guazzelli, Corbacho, Bota, and Arbib [21], Gaussier, Revel, Banquet, and Babeau [22], Filliat and Meyer [23], Arleo, Smeraldi, and Gerstner [24], Milford and Wyeth [25,26], Barrera and Weitzenfeld [27], Dollé, Sheynikhovich, Girard, Chavarriaga, and Guillot [28], Alvernhe, Sargolini, and Poucet [29], and Caluwaerts, Staffa, N'Guyen, Grand, Dollé, Favre-Felix, Girard, and Khamassi [30].…”